Certification system for clothing ‘Made in Japan’ to be launched soon

An industrial association of domestic apparel companies in Japan plans to soon launch certification system for clothing produced entirely in Japan. The system is designed to show that the manufacturing of such products, ranging from raw fabric production to the stitching is “made entirely in Japan, according to industrial sources.

The association hopes the certification system will impress consumers with the high quality of Japanese clothes at a time when Japan is losing ground to Chinese and other inexpensive foreign products.

The certification system ‘made entirely in Japan’ will probably be launched in July, when autumn and winter clothes go on sale. The products will mainly be high-grade suits and women’s clothes.

The system is likely to increase exports of domestically produced clothing. Because of inexpensive products made in China, Bangladesh and other countries, the value of shipments of domestic apparel has fallen from a peak of ¥12.9 trillion in 1991 to ¥3.7 trillion in 2013.

The Japan Apparel-Fashion Industry Council, which is composed of apparel-related industry groups, will provide certification to companies producing clothing in Japan so they can sell their products with a special tag attached.

Most of the quality of high-grade fabric made in Japan and shirts stitched by expert craftspeople in Japan are sought after in Europe and the United States, and have been adopted by overseas luxury brands. However, these products are often labelled as made in China, Italy, Spain and other countries, so consumers are not fully aware of the quality of Japanese goods.

On the other hand, clothes made using Japanese textiles or processed in Japan are gaining popularity due to the recent economic recovery. Sanyo Shokai Ltd.’s coats produced in Japan cost about Â¥80,000 per item. However, the company sold more than than 3,000 this winter, about three times more than the previous year.